Okay, EVERYONE uses toilet paper. And chances are good that at least occasionally you have paper towels, too--especially with our dog, we keep a roll around all the time, even if we don't have to use it much. So what can you do with those cardboard tubes left over? Here are a few ideas to spark your imagination!
10. Binoculars! I know, it's cliche, but what kid didn't love having a pair of "binoculars" when they were little? These would be great for a jungle or birdwatching party or themed room. When I was little, we also made just monoculars, with colored saran wrap at the ends...it was fun to see the world in different hues. :)
9. Cardboard Tube Castles! Kind of like when you built houses or cities with old boxes, except this looks much grander. :) You could turn your box cities into a kingdom, with this palace at the head!
8. Pretty tube vases! I love the details she did here...pretty paper taped on the back, twine and a bit of glue holding it together, and lots of little trinkets, like old jewelry or the butterfly, make old tubes beautiful and spruce up a dull corner.
7. Cardboard tube racers! With some felt or foam, pushpins, and a cardboard tube, your little guy (or girl!) could make a whole set of racers to play with on a rainy day!
6. Mini pinatas! This is a FamilyFun spinoff of a Christmas cracker--you fill a tube with small trinkets, candy, stickers, etc, and then wrap it with some tissue paper. Sitting in a circle around the table (and everyone holding one), you each take one end of it...then pull! These can be adapted to just about any holiday!
5. Christmas Decor. Whether it's something beautiful, like these candles (you use glue, allowing it to dry, for the dripping wax effect), or something fun, like the Christmas choir below (old socks as the hats), you can make almost-free decor or crafts for the holidays!
4. Speaking of holidays, who doesn't love Valentine's Day? You could make a string of hearts by cross-sectioning the tubes, after painting them red, like the one below. This could be a fun countdown calendar or a simple garland, and how cheap is that?! You could also decorate patriotic-ly and use them as confetti launchers!
3. Napkin Rings. Your kiddos could make napkin rings for any dinner, any color scheme, ever, by just painting the cut tubes or adding embellishments.
2. Marble Mazes! I *LOVE* this idea, because how expensive are those things sometimes? All you need here are the tubes, paint or colored tape, scissors, and glue. Get creative, pair two or three tubes together, decorate, and away you go!
1. Probably my favorite is something I've seen around the blogosphere a lot lately, where you make flower petals or leaves or ivy out of the tubes! You paint them however you want, then fold the tube in half and cut cross-sections...how you adhere them to your surface will determine the shape you have. Check out how deceivingly beautiful these can be!
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| Perhaps my favorite idea ever--a family tree, with tube branches and tube leaves! |
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| Here's more of an ivy look, although they painted the outsides several colors... |
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| And here are the flowers! I've seen many variations of this, but this is probably the prettiest! |
BONUS IDEA: Storage! FamilyFun made these honeycomb-inspired storage containers with cardstock, but I think you could easily adapt it to cardboard tubes and store jewelry or gumball machine toys in. :)
So, what are you waiting for? Don't you just want to save all those tubes and go make something awesome with your kids? (Or hubbies? :) Enjoy!
Wow, I'm impressed! These are some really cute/good/fun ideas! I think I might have to try the marble run with my girls.
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